Powerful, Critical and Hopeful
Danielle Younge-Ullman has written some of the most impactful young adult novels in recent memory. Her new book He Must Like You continues this trend of hard hitting but hopeful stories that make readers ask questions and reflect.
This book is strikingly important for young people. It centres around a young woman named Libby who is in the final year of high school and is so tired and so angry. Her parents have decided to rent out her room meaning she needs to move out. Not only that but all the money for university is gone so she needs to get a job and find a place to live while finishing high school. Add several negative experiences with boys and men and she finally reaches her boiling point.
Consent is certainly something that was not openly discussed when I was a teenager. I knew about consent but really did not understand the nuance. Danielle Younge-Ullman gives readers a very clear and understandable story centred on consent, something that is so incredibly important. When reading Libby’s story, I was drawn back to my younger years and times when I received unwanted attention. This story will empower young readers to advocate for themselves and understand when they have given and received unwanted attention.
There is so much power to Danielle Younge-Ullman’s writing. I love how the story starts at the penultimate moment and then we are taken back in time to find out how Libby got to that life changing moment. Younge-Ullman takes us back and forth, giving us glimpses all along the way of how Libby reached her breaking point. There is a slow burn to the story, with lots of hints and suggestions along the way to point at how Libby gets to her altercation with Perry Ackerman. Danielle Younge-Ullman keeps the reader guessing all the way through. She also provides the reader with many different instances in which Libby did not give full and enthusiastic consent to her partners. She clearly lays out many different ways in which women are at times manipulated into sexual encounters and ways in which we don’t really even realize that it’s happening.
This book is a must read not only for teenagers and young adults but for parents as well. It can act as an ice breaker for necessary conversations.
